Ore-concentrator.



G. B.'EBERENZ & J. I. BROWN.

OREI CONCENTBATOR. APPLICATLON FILED MAR.2.1916.

Patented June 20, 1916.

GEORGHEJB. EBERIENZ ND JAMES I. BROWN, GF CRTPPLE CREEK, COLORO.

. onn-cononn'rnafron.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented d' une 26H, TFT

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE B. Ennnnnz and JAMES l. BROWN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Cripple Creek, in the county of Tellerand State of Colorado, have invented certain newI and usefulllmprovements in Ure-Concentratcrs, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to ore concentra' tors of that class where theore is concentrated by gaseousrflotation of mineral particles in liquid.V,ln all'concentrating apparatus known to us carrying out the flotationprinciple, the finely ground ore, together with water and the frothingagent such as oil, is driven from an agitating tank or compartment intothe spitzkasten and from the spitzkasten passes into another agtatingtank. Furthermore, inl all flotation concentrating apparatus known tous, the liquid with the finely ground ore and the frothing agent Visagitated and driven into the spitzkasten by means of impeller bladesoperating in a horizontal plane.

We have found by careful practical demonstrations that horizontallyoperating agitating blades do not bring the finely ground ore intothoroughcontact with the air and frothing agent, and one of the objectsof the invention is to Aimprove upon constructions of this character bythe provision of agitating blades which. move in a vertical. plane, andin this connection to provide a spitzkasten so connected with theagitating chamber, vessel or `tank that the finely ground ore'and liquidwill bedriven, into 4 the lower end of the spitzkasten 'and then suckedback into the agitating tank over the top of the agitating bladeswhereby more air is beaten into and mixed with the mass in the agitatingtank and the whole mass yreturned again and again to the spitzkastenwhere the concentrates rise and pass od until the separation of theconcentrates from the gangue .iscomplete The invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a concentrating apparatus constructed inaccordance with our invention; Fig. 2 is alsection on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section on. the line 3&3 of Fig. 2; Fig. l is asectional view showing the manner in which apparatus with Ahorizontallyrevolving blades operates.

Referring to these drawings it will be seen that our improvedconcentrator comprises the agitating tank 10, having at its lower endthe tailings discharge 11. Thev spitzkasten l2 has the usual outwardlyand upwardly extending wall 13 which at its upper end 1s provided withthe apron 14 dlscharging into a launder 15. The wall l6 dividing theagitating tank from the spitzkasten is formed with a longitudinallyextending opening 17 disposed above the lower end of the wall, and atthe base the wall lti is also formed with a longitudinally extendlngopening 18. llt will be noted that the wall 16, below the opening 1?, isformed with a portion 19 projecting into the agitating tank 10.

Mounted within the agitating tank and extending longitudinallytherethrough is a shaft 20, and mounted upon this shaft are impellers oragitators which rotate in a vertical plane. s'illustrated, theseimpellers comprise the collars or heads 21 having radial arms 22, eachof these arms carrying a plurality of spaced blades 23; The diameter ofthe agitator or impeller across the blades is nearly equal to the widthof the agitating tank 10. The shaft 20 passes out through suitablestuffing boxes 24 carried by the .side walls of the agitating tank, andthe shaft is connected to any suitable driving Amechanism, as by meansof the belt wheels or drive pulleys 25.

llt will be noted in Fig. 2 that the impeller or agitator is disposedslightly below the opening 17 and that its blades in their travel extenddown to a point approximately opposite the opening 18. Tt will be seenthat the impeller, as illustrated, has a -Elurality' of horizontal vanescarrying lades, and that there are spaces between the blades, and wehave found in practice that these spaced blades assure the greatestpossible amount of agitation, emulsifying and beating of the air and oilinto the mass and bringing the finely crushed ore into inthe opening 17and is subjected to further agitation so that the mlineral particleswhich have not been subjected to the action of the oil and froth willthen come in contact therewith and will be raised when they once'morepass into the spitzkasten.

In our construction there is one continual circulation of emulsion fromthe agitating chamber or cell into the spitzkasten and back again. Thisconstant circulation `of -the mass is secured by the vertically rotatingimpeller or agitator which gives a circulation from the bottom of thecell 10 into the bottom of the spitzkasten andthen back into tatingchamber and again into a spitzkasten,

and so on, but one agitating chamber and one spitzkasten is all that isnecessary for the complete separation of the concentrates from thegangue. Of course, it will be obvious that we may build the agitatingcells or tanks and the spitzkasten in batteries,

but the primefobject of our invention is to do away with -the necessityof passing the material througha series of agitating cells and thespitzkasten, and confine the operation to one cell and one spitzkasten.

While we have shown certain details of construction, it is obvious thatmany changes might be 'made without departing from the spirit oftheinvention. It is to be particularly noted that the agitator does notoperate merely4 to throw the materials out from the agitator, but'itoperates to churn up the materials and intimately intermingle the pulpwith theoil and air, and further, it will be noted that the-mineralparticles that do not come in Contact with the oil at the firstagitation are carried back from the v spitzkasten into the agitatingchamber or cell'and there again subjected to the action of the agitator.In practical operation it hasb'een found that our apparatus will makesuiii'cient froth through the action of the agitator so that no frothingoils are necessary. It will be obvious, of course, that the dimensionsof the agitation chamber and the spitzkasten will vary, depending uponthe amount of work required, but that in all cases the agitating bladeswill have a length nearly equal that of the agitation chamber. After theseparation of the mineral from the pulp has been secured, the tailingsare drawn from the bottom of the agitation chamber andthe agitationchamber is again recharged and the operation repeated.

In the practical operation of this invention the cell and spitzkastenare filled with water to the amount required, then the pulp is added andafter a little agitation a small amount of oil is added. The oilrequired is of a very small quantityand much less than in other machinesbecause of the violent agitation to which the li uid and pulp in thecell are submitted. A ter the oil is added, separation commences to.take place immediately. This machine gives a violent agitation to theliquid, which is necessary in order that the oil may get into intimatecontact with the-mineral particles. The water rises in the spitzkastento the overfiow apron, while in the cell it remains'barely above thevanes 23 of the impeller thus giving it all the air necessary to createall the froth required to float the mineral particles that are bound tocome in Contact with the oil. The

. water, pulp and air are all added through the top of the cell whichmay be left open or pairtly closed in case the material splashes ou InFig. 4 we show a section ofan ordinary .concentrating machine using thecell and spitzkasten and a horizontally disposed rotatable beater oragitator, and this view shows the manner in which the vhorizontallyrotatmg agitator operates. It acts to lower the level of the metalportion of the liquid and the oil, or some of it remains on the top ofthe cell at the top of the liquid and gets around the walls, that is, onthe higher portions surrounding the center of the liquid column. Fig. 2illustrates the manner in which our machine acts. The vanes of theimpeller or agitator are in view at almost all times so that air isthoroughly beaten 1nto the mass and all of the oil and pulp arecontinually separated. A

It is of course t0 be understood that the opemngs 17 and-18 are soproportioned as to maintain a'liquid level in the agitation chamberlower than that in the spitzkasten.

Having described the invention, what we claim is:

1. An apparatus for concentrating ores by gaseous Hotation of mineralparticles in liquid, including an agitating tank and a spitzkasten, the'agitating tank having an opening at its base leading into the base 'ofthe spitzkasten and an opening leading from thespitzkasten and into theagitating chamber above the base'and below the overfiow level of thespitzkasten, and an agitator rotating in a vertical plane Within theagitatlng tank Vand disposed below the plane of thersecond-namedopening, the agitator rotating in such a direction as to draw liquidinward into the agitating tank from the spitzkasten by the upper openingbut force liquid from the agitating tank into the yopening its base intothe base of the Spitzkasten and there being an opening above the basebetween the spitzkasten and the agitating tank, said opening being belowthe overiow level of the spitzkasten, and means disposed within theagitating tank for agiliti tating the liquid therein and forcing theliquid into the spitzkasten through the base opening and drawing liquidfrom the spitzkasten into the agitating tank through the upper opening,said agitating means being disposed below the level of the upperopening, said upper and lower openings being vso proportioned as tomaintain aliquid level in the agitating tank lower than that in the.

spitzkasten.

3. ln an apparatus for concentrating ores gaseous flotation of mineralparticles in liquid, an agitating tank, -a spitzkasten, the

tank opening at its base into the base of the spitzkasten, there beingan opening from the middle of the agitating tank into the spitzkasten,said opening being below the normal level of the pulp in thespitzkasten, a shaft passing horizontally through the agitating tank andhorizontally disposed blades mounted on the shaft and rotating in avertical plane, the shaft andiblades being disposed at all times belowthe secondnamed opening and the agitator rotating in a direction tocause a circulation of material from the agitating tank into thespitzkasten through the irst-namedopening and back into the agitatingtank through the second-named opening, the first and second namedopenings being so proportioned as to maintain a liquid level in theagitating tank lower than that in the spitzkasten.- y

4. In an apparatus for concentrating ores by the dotation process,anagitating tank, a spitzkastemthe tank at its base opening into lthespitzkasten and there being an opening between the tank and thespitzkasten above the lower opening but below the normal level of thepulp inthe spitzkasten, a shaft passing horizontally through theagitating-tank parallel tothe length of said openings, arms carried uponthe shaft, and a plurality of blades connecting said arms and spacedfrom each other, the arms and "blades being below the level of thesecondnamed opening and rotating in a direction to cause pulp to bedrawn through the second-named opening from the spitzkasten into theagitating tank and expelled from the agitating tank into the spitzkastenthrough the first-named opening, the lfirst and second named openingsbeing so proportioned as to maintain a liquid level in the agitatingtank lower than that in the spitzkasten.

ln testimony whereof we hereunto alix our signatures in the presencefofwitnesses.

GEORGE B. EBERENZ. l JAMESI. lBRUWN. Witnesses: A

JOHN U. MARTIN',

CHAS. M. ROSE,

CHARLES W. Howns'r,

Gus WOGAN.

mil

